Black Men Make Sense of Marital Distress and Divorce: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

In the past 30 years, there have been significant changes in the Black family structure (Cherlin, 1992; Farley & Allen, 1987). One dramatic change has been the gradual disintegration of marital bonds. For example, the proportion of Blacks who divorce has increased, whereas the proportion who marry has declined (Cherlin, 1992). In 1990, the divorce ratio was 28.2 divorces per 100 marriages among Blacks, compared to 13 per 100 for Whites U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1991). In part, the increase in the divorce rate has led to a decrease in Black two-parent families. For example, in 1970, 68% of Black families had both husband and wife present, compared to 50% by 1990. This represents a decrease of 18% in 20 years, compared to a 6% decrease for White families (Pinkney, 1993). Black children of divorce comprise 19% of children who reside in single-parent households; 56.3% of Black children who live in single-parent households do so as a consequence of the mother never marrying the father (Eshleman, 1993). Consequently, the enduring Black married couple is an endangered species, and couples in which one or both partners have been married previously are becoming the norm (Cherlin, 1992). The increased prevalence of divorce among Blacks has been attributed to the attitudes of Blacks toward marriage (Anderson, 1989; Heiss, 1988), the quality of life among Black men and women (Bennett, Bloom, & Craig, 1989; Pinkney, 1993), the economic marginality of Blacks (Farley & Allen, 1987; Hampton, 1979; Wilkinson, 1977; Willie, 1991), the liberalization of divorce laws (Rheinstein, 1972; Weitzman, 1985), and the unequal sex ratio in the Black community (Guttentag & Secord, 1983; South & Lloyd, 1992; Staples, 1985). Although various factors have been considered to explain the high incidence of marital disruption among Blacks, research on the perspective of Black males on the causes of marital distress and divorce is relatively sparse. According to Fine, McKenry, and Chung (1992), most divorce research has explored marital distress and divorce from the perspectives of Black and White women. The reasons men and women offer for their divorces differ significantly (Kitson, 1992; Reissman, 1990). In fact, discrepancies between men's and women's reports have been documented in the areas of child support payments (Wright & Price, 1986), father's involvement postdivorce (Seltzer & Bianchi, 1988), and the postdivorce relationships between former spouses (Goldsmith, 1981). Thus, to understand the high rate of divorce among Blacks, the examination of causes that lead to marital distress and divorce from the perspective of Black men is essential. Studies have reported that structural conditions contribute to the increased prevalence of marital disruption in the Black population (Billingsley, 1992; Hampton, 1979; South, 1993). For example, economic changes in the past 30 years have produced major shifts in employment opportunities for Black males and females. The reduction of manufacturing employment and the decrease in white-collar jobs has produced a decline in the Black working class, an expansion of the Black underclass, and an unstable Black middle class (Billingsley, 1988). For Black men, the change in the economy has resulted in a decline in their labor force participation rate. Studies have documented the relationship between unemployment or sporadic employment and high divorce rates (Fergusson, Horwood, & Shannon, 1984; Martin & Bumpass, 1989; Smith & Meitz, 1985). This article identifies structural as well as personal factors that Black men believe contributed to the instability of their marriages and, in turn, led to divorce. The purpose of this article is to present the findings from in-depth interviews with Black divorced men. Specifically, this study explores the reasons Black men offer for their divorces, and begins to fill a void in understanding the strategies Black men use to cope with structural changes and their effect on marital stability. …